Creative ways to use Kool-Aid

I love this column Jennifer Schreiner of Inspiring Savings, a great local money-saving blog. I had no earthly idea there were so many uses for Kool-Aid. I’m sure you’ll find this as informative and useful as I do.

I often find packs of Kool-aid on sale at 20 packs for $2. Using coupons, I can get them for FREE after the coupon is doubled. The only problem is we don’t drink a lot of Kool-aid in my house. I still get them though, because they are FREE and recently I have been on a mission to find other ways to use the Kool-Aid. I recently noticed that lemonade kool aid contains citric acid and found this to be an awesome dishwaser cleaner (see #7).

Clean rust from concrete – Do you have nasty rust stains on your concrete? Kool-aid to the rescue. Just mix unsweetened lemonade Kool-Aid with hot water. Scrub and the rust stain should come right out.

Remove Chlorine From Your Hair – Summer’s almost here, which means you may be spending quite a bit of time in a pool. The chlorine in the pool can change the color of your hair. To change you hair back to its original color, use a pack of lemonade flavored Kool-Aid. Pour some Kool-Aid in your hand (longer hair or more damaged will use more). Then add a dab of shampoo and lather your hair up. Let the Kool-Aid set on your hair for fifteen minutes before you rinse it and then re-shampoo.

Make Kool-Aid Play Dough – Here’s something for your kids. Not only will they enjoy playing with it, but they can have fun making it with you too. Mix 1 cup flour, 4 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons cream of tartar and 1 package of Kool-Aid into a medium-sized pot. Add 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the mixture and stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the mixture forms a ball in the pot. Then remove and kneed the dough until smooth. Put in a plastic bag and refrigerate.

Make Kool-Aid flavored Lip Gloss – This would be great for a craft at a girl’s birthday party. Place a small amount ofpetroleum jelly into a microwave-safe bowl. Stir some Kool-Aid powder into the jelly (use enough to make the color they desire.) Stir in a little sugar, then place the bowl in a microwave oven for about 5 or 6 seconds – just enough to soften the mixture up a bit. Voila, Lip Gloss.

Check for Toilet Leaks – Do you hear water running inside your toilet tank between flushes? You may have a leak. An easy way to check is to use Kool-Aid. You will want to use a darker color powder for this so you can see it. 1st carefully lift the lid off the toilet tank and set it aside. Empty a pack of Kool-aid into the tank. Depending on the size of the leak, the test may take 10 to 30 minutes. Don’t flush the toilet! Just watch the bowl. If you see the colored powder float through from the tank, there’s a leak present.

Clean your Toilet-Strange as it may seem Kool-Aid works well for cleaning toilet bowls and is even commonly used in the military for just that purpose. Simply empty a packet of Kool -Aid lemonade into the bowl, scrub with a toilet brush and flush.

Make an Easy Frosting – Mix a pack of Kool-Aid with a can of vanilla frosting or cool whip until the cream has an even, solid color. If your frosting tastes a bit dull at first, add sugar until it’s sweet enough for your liking. Not only will Kool-Aid add color to your frosting, but you can pick your flavor. Here is my facorite homemade frosting 3/4 cup unsalted butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 packet of cherry flavored kool-Aid. YUMMY! Goes great with chocolate cake.

Clean your Dishwasher – Does your dishwasher look old and unsanitary from water stains, brown rust and soap residue? Once again Kool-Aid can come to your rescue. Just add 1 to 2 packs of Lemonade Kool-Aid in the soap drawer and run the dishwasher through the regular long wash cycle. The citric acid in the Kool-Aid helps break down the stains, leaving your dishwasher free of build-up and residue.

Make Kool “Sand” Art – Here’s an other craft idea for the kids. Let your kids draw a picture with pencil. Then spread a thin layer of Elmer type glue over one section of the drawing (it’s best to start on top.) Sprinkle dry Kool-Aid over the glued area and pat it down gently. Shake excess powder off and continue onto the next portion of your drawing. When finished let lie flat until it’s dried completely.

Jazz up Picture Frames – Do you have some old wooden picture frames? You can liven them up with Kool-Aid. Add 3 – 4 packs of Kool-Aid to a bowl of water to make the dye extra strong, for a darker shade add more. Place your wooden frames into the solution and let them absorb the juice overnight. The result will be a colorful collection of fresh wooden frames.

Dye your Hair Temporarily – If you want to go funky for a bit, or have a party you’re going to you can temporarily dye your hair with Kool-Aid. Choose the color you want to use and pour it into a glass container. Add a teaspoon of corn starch and just enough water to turn the ingredients into a paste. Apply the paste to your clean, dry hair and let it set for five minutes. Then rinse the paste out. Your color will last until you shampoo your hair once or twice. My brother use to do this in a weekly basis through high school.

Easter Egg Coloring-Kool-Aid works great for coloring Easter Eggs. Simply put some different colored Kool-Aid powdersin glass bowls and add 2 tablespoons of vinegar along with ½ cup of water to each bowl. Stir until powder is completely dissolved – then dip in your hard-boiled eggs.

Tie Dyed Shirts-No need to use permanent messy dyes to tie-dye a cotton t-shirt. Kool-Aid does the same job! Decide on the colors you want and put those colored powders into different glass bowls. Add ¼ cup of white vinegar into each bowl and mix until completely dissolved. Then wrap some rubber bands around several bunches on the cotton t-shirt (shirt should be white, clean and dry) and dip each section into a different color. Keep the rubber bands on and lie the shirt down someplace to dry. When it is done drying, you can then remove the rubber bands and spread the shirt out so it can dry completely. To set the colors permanently, toss the shirt into the dryer (by itself) and leave in for about 15 minutes.

Water Colored Paints-Here is another quick and easy art project for kids. Pour some different colored kool-aid powder into compartments of an ice tray and add one teaspoon of water to each compartment. Stir well until completely mixed, then hand your child a paintbrush for fun and safe water-color painting.

Coffee Pot Cleaner-Dissolve one packet of Lemonade Kool-Aid to 16 ounces of water. Brew the cleaning solution through your coffee pot. Viola, hard water stains removed. I like this one better than cleaning your coffee pot with vinegar. I just rather my house smell of lemonade then strong vinegar.